Is there any lense with motorized zoom?

B

benn

Well-known member
After the Sony 4/18-105 was an absolut letdown, I am looking for another "every day on" lense for my FS700. I already own the 18-200 without motorzoom and so its nonsense to buy the 18-200 with motorzoom for almost 1000 euros, though the lense is not bad.
All announcements by Sony for new e-mount lenses do not provide any motorized zoom and so its once more my question what does Sony want??? The new e-mounts will be distinguished in APS and full frame ability. There are beautiful lenses in, but not for video. And for some professional work is a uniformly drive in some situations indispensable. Any recommendations?
Thanks Benn
 
benn said:
After the Sony 4/18-105 was an absolut letdown, I am looking for another "every day on" lense for my FS700. I already own the 18-200 without motorzoom and so its nonsense to buy the 18-200 with motorzoom for almost 1000 euros, though the lense is not bad.
All announcements by Sony for new e-mount lenses do not provide any motorized zoom and so its once more my question what does Sony want??? The new e-mounts will be distinguished in APS and full frame ability. There are beautiful lenses in, but not for video. And for some professional work is a uniformly drive in some situations indispensable. Any recommendations?
Thanks Benn
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Sony e mount to PL adapter and Fuji 19-90 F2.8. The lens is amazing, I just used it about
a month ago (rental of course). The problem is, it costs about 40 grand. Right now there is
nothing like that for the FS700 in a lower cost version. Which is why the 18-105 was so highly
anticipated. I am sending mine back today. B&H were awesome and marked the reason for
return as 'defective - extreme pillow distortion' so they are aware of the issue.
I hope Sony will release something similar soon for us FS700 shooters. In the meantime,
many are choosing the speedbooster/24-105 combo. That's kind of the best you can do.
Or for outdoors, the kit lens is ok.
 
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Another option is to use a 2/3" ENG lens with an optical adapter. The HDx35 will physically adapt the mounts and the internal optics will magnify the image to cover the full sensor of the FS700. You can then use a cable to a battery to power the zoom motor on the lens. The adapter is available with a Sony E mount but you will need some form of rod support to handle the weight. There are good B4 lenses out there on the used market, and the entire kit could be put together for perhaps $10K. Expensive compared to some options but a lot cheaper than buying a Fuji Cabrio zoom.
 
If your main concern is zoom I would pair a constant aperture zoom lens with a Red Rock Micro Remote

http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/microRemoteSystem

It's going to be a heck of a lot cheaper than the Fujinon and optically it will be as good as you want it to be (depending on the lens you choose)

They have a finger wheel configuration which can work great for ENG work

It was designed to for remote focusing but can also work for zoom or aperture. It will set you back about $1500 bucks but it will work with any and all of your zoom lenses and can of course be used to manage focus as well.

Its to bad they don't make a two or three channel version (like Red) - so you could manage focus, aperture and zoom. You could technically by three units, it would still come out a lot cheaper than the Red option but it would be a little unwieldy to mount and manage.
 
Note with a focus control device such as the Red Rock, they are designed for speed accuracy, not smoothness. Because of this, it is not good solution if you would like to zoom within a shot, as you cannot feather the movement gracefully.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Note with a focus control device such as the Red Rock, they are designed for speed accuracy, not smoothness. Because of this, it is not good solution if you would like to zoom within a shot, as you cannot feather the movement gracefully.
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It's funny my Red Rock online chat representative neglected to reveal that niggling little detail....despite the fact that I specifically asked if it could be used for Zoom.

Mitch are you a 100% sure it only works at one speed and can't be 'feathered'

It would seem to me that you would need to control the speed at which you would pull focus.
 
I'm saying that it doesn't feather like a traditional zoom rocker or Microforce does. You're turning a rotary encoder knob. The speed you spin it is essentially the speed it will react.
 
So your options are spend $40k or sell your sel18200 to buy a selp18200 at a potential loss of maybe $400... the cheap one will autofocus and work with your zoom rocker.
 
Yes in a microremote your movement controls position, whereas a rocker/microforce controls speed. However I tend to prefer the precision of the former, but if you are looking for a rocker-like speed (not position) control, you need a rocker/microforce.
 
Noah, thats what I think about. The sel18200 is not a bad lense, and its greatest disadvantage is the 5,6 to 6.3 F-stop. It has a very useful focal lengths range, less distorsion and an affordable price.
Thanks Benn
 
Hi,

I had the PZ version of the 18-200 on my EA50. It looked more professional with the video'ish hood and servomotor and the black paint...


... but the zoom was so slow, that I decided to better zoom manually with the old non-servo 18-200. It just wasn't usable for me as it is absolutely no ENG like servozoom.
Of course it is too slow when you begin to zoom in slightly. I never used it longer than about 100mm.

That's why I want something like a 18-70 or better 18-105. As the 18-105 Sony wasn't usable, I bought a speedbooster and tried the Canon 24-105/4.0 L IS. It's a photographers AF-lens but it's a nice focal range with a nice constant aperture. With the speedbooster it will be like a 18-75/2.8 with a usefull stabilizer for handheld operation. It's big, it's not exactly cheap, it hasn't constant length (bad for matte box) and is a little more heavy then the 18-200 PZ thanks to the speedbooster.

I think it's nevertheless the best allaround choice for our FS's as long as you don't need a faster aperture or more focal range.

If you don't need IS, your choice will be much bigger. There are plenty of good manual zoomlenses out there. Just put a Canon FD 28-85/4.0 or a Canon 35-105/3,5 or something similar on a speedbooster and you're ready to go...
 
My standard lens for my 700 is the Canon 24-70 f2.8 L v1.

OK it is not power zoomable. But it is a very sharp lens and constant f2.8 w/o speed doubler.

The other great thing is the way it extends is backwards, and that is perfect for use with matte boxes (use "nuns knickers") or even just the standard hood. It extends when zoomed in, so the MB or hood is very effective.

If I am careful I can achieve a subtle zoom in/out with it, but I rarely do this. I think of it as a bunch of primes in one lens. My other very useful zooms are the Canon 16-35 and 17-40 Ls and the 70-200 f2.8 IS, as well as the 100-400 Canon L.

If I want wide with IS then I use the silver kit lens, other than being slow it really is a great lens. And real wide I use the Rokanon 8mm. That is my basic 700 lens kit.

If I really need to R&G on the shoulder I use my trusty old EX3 it is a wonderful shoulder zoomable (I got one of the smooth ones) IS, ENG cam and so much easier to nail focus. I find C size imagers to fuzzy and lens choices too limited for true R&G, so I always bring my EX3 as well for shouldering quick shots. I have profiles in the 700 and EX3 that match very well.

This is just my way of working with my 700. I do use it on the shoulder in more controlled situations and also hand cradle it, usually with the kit lens or the 8mm Rokanon.
 
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Sorry to derail the thread slightly, but would love to hear/read the profiles that you use to cut between the fs700 and EX3 Olof. Cheers!
 
brotherian said:
Sorry to derail the thread slightly, but would love to hear/read the profiles that you use to cut between the fs700 and EX3 Olof. Cheers!
Click to expand...

I use my profile 2 on this chart for the 700

FS700 PP.jpg

And these settings for the EX3:

EX3settingPP1.jpgEX3settingPP2.jpgEX3settingPP3.jpgEX3settingPP4.jpg

This gets you quite close, some grading in post will make them match perfectly.
 
That's great, I'm going to give these a try next time I'm on a shoot with them both (it happens often!). Thank you so much!
 
Erik, could the slowness be a problem of the EA50? I read somewhere that the speed of the 18200 zoom is not so bad....and why you dont use it about 1oomm? If I need to zoom manual around 100mm and more its also nearly impossible to create a smooth drive.
Benn
 
FYI, there is a rig I've been playing with from VidPro that has 2 rocker switches and a servo motor with belts to to attach to focus and zoom rings.
The focus I found to be kind of iffy because you can't jump to a particular position, rather have to hold the rocker until you reach the appropriate point of focus (the opposite of the problem using remote follow focus systems mentioned above). However, the zoom offered a nice smooth servo effect.
1015552_10152945505895254_1308443865_o.jpg

The speed of the servo can be adjusted with a dial next to the rocker buttons, however the rockers are more-or-less on/off switches. They don't really detect how hard you are pressing them, so the servo just moves at a constant speed, whatever you set the dial to. This is actually nice for consistent movement, however if you want the zooms to change speed during a zoom (perhaps to ease in or out) I have been told a new model is planned to offer adjustable speed rockers.

Personally I like the constant speed motion so this works for me, but I'm thinking of removing one side and using a traditional follow focus gear.

I plan to do a full review of this soon (haven't had the time!).
 
M. Gilden said:
FYI, there is a rig I've been playing with from VidPro that has 2 rocker switches and a servo motor with belts to to attach to focus and zoom rings.
The focus I found to be kind of iffy because you can't jump to a particular position, rather have to hold the rocker until you reach the appropriate point of focus (the opposite of the problem using remote follow focus systems mentioned above). However, the zoom offered a nice smooth servo effect.
View attachment 81021

The speed of the servo can be adjusted with a dial next to the rocker buttons, however the rockers are more-or-less on/off switches. They don't really detect how hard you are pressing them, so the servo just moves at a constant speed, whatever you set the dial to. This is actually nice for consistent movement, however if you want the zooms to change speed during a zoom (perhaps to ease in or out) I have been told a new model is planned to offer adjustable speed rockers.

Personally I like the constant speed motion so this works for me, but I'm thinking of removing one side and using a traditional follow focus gear.

I plan to do a full review of this soon (haven't had the time!).
Click to expand...

I remember seeing that rig on CheesyCam.com and if I remember correctly it was very inexpensive but it was from a company called Opteka.

http://opteka.com/ffr900.aspx

Here is the Cheesy Cam article along with a demo (in Spanish eith English sub-titles) with a zoom mounted on an FS700 nontheless......looks to work pretty well to me

http://cheesycam.com/opteka-ffr-900-motorized-follow-focus-zoom-control-2/

There is also another more expensive option which was also posted on CheesyCam from a company called Senna. This option is a little more expensive ($1600) but still reasonable. It's a two channel system but the problem with it is it doesen't have any other way to control focus and zoom other than with a large box. For run and gun/Eng you would need something that you could easily mount on to your rig. The Opteka (above) seems to be better suited to the run and gun scenario, but the Senna seems like a more professional option.

Cheesy Cam Article

http://cheesycam.com/senna-motorized-pan-tilt-head-and-wireless-follow-focus/

Company/Product - Senna / All-Recall-Duo

http://www.senna.hr/products/dslr-camera-accessories/all-recall-focus-duo
 
How do people feel about the Chrozeil fluid zoom? This may be a workaround that, while not perfect, may be a practical solution.
 
True North said:
I remember seeing that rig on CheesyCam.com and if I remember correctly it was very inexpensive but it was from a company called Opteka.

http://opteka.com/ffr900.aspx

Here is the Cheesy Cam article along with a demo (in Spanish eith English sub-titles) with a zoom mounted on an FS700 nontheless......looks to work pretty well to me

http://cheesycam.com/opteka-ffr-900-motorized-follow-focus-zoom-control-2/

There is also another more expensive option which was also posted on CheesyCam from a company called Senna. This option is a little more expensive ($1600) but still reasonable. It's a two channel system but the problem with it is it doesen't have any other way to control focus and zoom other than with a large box. For run and gun/Eng you would need something that you could easily mount on to your rig. The Opteka (above) seems to be better suited to the run and gun scenario, but the Senna seems like a more professional option.

Cheesy Cam Article

http://cheesycam.com/senna-motorized-pan-tilt-head-and-wireless-follow-focus/

Company/Product - Senna / All-Recall-Duo

http://www.senna.hr/products/dslr-camera-accessories/all-recall-focus-duo
Click to expand...

Yes, Opteka and VidPro as well as Vivitar and a few other companies out there import a lot of strikingly similar products from OEMs in china. However they are not necessarily identical, as each company orders them built to their own specs options and modifications. For example, I once compared a simple merlin-clone stabilizer from different companies that all looked the same and were clearly being sourced from the same Chinese OEM. I found one of them had bubble levels to help balance as well as a smoother gimbal (I'm guessing that one was built to a higher quality standard) and the other one was kind of cheap in build quality.

I don't know how the VidPro version of rig above compares to the Opteka in the flesh, but I do know that the VidPro version added a spare battery, counter weight and flapped lens hood / shade (the picture above is the rig before I assembled all the pieces of it). You can see the whole kit on B&H's listing:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=943737&Q=&is=REG&A=details

The other versions of this rig that I've seen don't have those accessories. I'm not sure what else is different between them, but this is the one I'm familiar with at the moment.
 
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